Does Newton's or Galileo's first law depend on gravity?

AI Thread Summary
Newton's first law does not depend on gravity, as it describes the motion of an object in the absence of external forces. Galileo's observations about rolling balls on inclined planes illustrate how gravity affects velocity but do not alter the fundamental principles of Newton's laws. The conclusion that an object in motion will maintain constant velocity when no net external force acts on it remains valid regardless of gravitational influence. The discussion emphasizes the importance of accurately interpreting physical laws without conflating them with specific forces like gravity. Overall, both Newton's and Galileo's principles highlight motion in relation to forces, but gravity is not a prerequisite for understanding these laws.
parshyaa
Messages
307
Reaction score
19
Does Newton's or galileo's first law depends on gravity ?
  • Galileo said that ball rolling on a downward sloping plane speeds up while ball rolling on upward sloping plane slows down therefore he concluded that ball remains with constant velocity(unaccelarated) on a horizontal plane
  • here gravity is the reason for increase or decrease in velocity on a downward or upward sloping plane because there is a component of 'g' ie gcos(theta) along or in opposite direction of the motion of ball , therefore ball will be in horizontal motion with constant velocity if there is no external force (except gravity) it means we will not include gravity force in the total force acting on a body .
  • Therefore Newton's first law will be , if the total force acting on a body (not including gravitational force in total force) equals zero then object will move with constant velocity or remains unaccelarated(a=0)
  • Then why in the example of book on a table, where a = 0, we take W - N(contact force) =0 why not only N = 0(here W - N is downwards)
 
Science news on Phys.org
parshyaa said:
  • Therefore Newton's first law will be , if the total force acting on a body (not including gravitational force in total force) equals zero then object will move with constant velocity or remains unaccelarated(a=0)
No, Newton's first law does not say anything about gravity because it has, fundamentally, nothing to do with gravity which is simply one specific case of an external force acting on a body. You should state laws precisely if you want to understand them. YOU are the one who brought gravity into Newton's first law and then you asked about the law depending on gravity. Simply read the law as stated and you would have answered your own question.
 
Newtons 3 laws don't depend on Newtonian gravity. I don't know about Galileo.

parshyaa said:
why not only N = 0
Because ##N\ne 0##. You cannot change that, it is a measurable physical fact.
 
I know that Newtons first law do not depends on gravity but I have observed that galileo concluded that if there is no force, object In motion will move with constant velocity. He concluded it from his experiment or observation of rolling balls from downward and upward sloping planes, he observed that velocity of a ball increases when it moves on downward sloping plane and it decreases on upward sloping plane
(Why speed increases or decreases on upward or downward sloping plane ?
Ans : because of componet of g )
From this he concluded that ball rolling on horizontal plane will neither speed up or slow down means it will remain constant or unaccelarated this conclusion will be valid only when we will remove every force (except gravity)
Then why can't I say that Newtons first law does depends on mass , I know that this is wrong but I want to know why
 
parshyaa said:
I know that Newtons first law do not depends on gravity
Then don't waste everyone's time by asking questions that you already know the answer to.

This thread is closed. Please be more respectful of others time in future questions.
 
  • Like
Likes Vanadium 50 and phinds
Back
Top